West Coast IPA

[Gytaryst]

Still working on the water profile.

 

[saltymirv]

Are you sure you need to add chalk and baking soda? I almost never have to raise the pH unless I'm brewing a dark beer

Are you sure you want to use Crystal 120 in an IPA? Its fairly uncommon but not completely unheard of. If it was me I'd use a lighter crystal malt like 40L and I'd probably use less - maybe 4oz or so. A west coast IPA is about the hops, not the malt

I would pick one bittering hop that is high alpha and use that to hit your IBU. Either Chinook or Columbus most likely

The rest seems ok. Maybe a little light on the hop amounts but it will still be good

 

[Gytaryst]

Are you sure you need to add chalk and baking soda? I almost never have to raise the pH unless I'm brewing a dark beer

I sent my water off to Ward Labs to be tested a while back and I've been using the old version of Bru N' Water with the numbers from that report plugged in. Sometimes I use just tap water and sometimes I dilute it with distilled water. Mostly I'm just playing around, trial and error, trying to see what works and what doesn't.

But then just recently I read where the numbers for municipal water supplies often vary significantly from one month to the next so there's no way to know for sure if the water I've been calculating on the Bru N' Water spreadsheet is the same as the water I'm actually brewing with. Obviously I'm not going to send my water in to be tested every time I want to brew, so I decided, (for now), I would just start out with 100% RO water and add the minerals in. I also switched to the newer version of the Bru N' Water software so I'm not completely familiar with that yet.

To make a long story short - when I decided to play around with the newer version earlier to figure out my water profile for this batch, It showed the pH for 100% RO water as 5.57 before I added a thing. When I added the grain bill the pH dropped to 4.43 and when I added in just gypsum, calcium chloride and epsom salt to get those numbers close, the pH dropped to 4.08.

So that's why I added the baking soda and chalk, but as I said I'm not done playing around with it yet. There's something I'm missing somewhere.

... Are you sure you want to use Crystal 120 in an IPA? Its fairly uncommon but not completely unheard of. If it was me I'd use a lighter crystal malt like 40L and I'd probably use less - maybe 4oz or so. A west coast IPA is about the hops, not the malt

Yeah - I rarely (if ever) use Crystal malts. Not for any good reason - I just never use them just because. I decided to add 8 oz of Crystal to this recipe just for the hell of it. It's a very light (in color) beer without the Crystal, so I ended up bumping it up to the 120L and 12 oz just to boost the SRM to 10. Other than that there's not much thought in why I used it other than to try something different.

... I would pick one bittering hop that is high alpha and use that to hit your IBU. Either Chinook or Columbus most likely

I'm lazier than that. I picked an ounce of something commonly found in a west coast IPA and split it four ways; .25 oz at 60 minutes, .25 oz at 15 minutes, .25 oz at flame-out, and .25 oz for dry hopping. Then I picked another hop commonly used in west coast IPAs and split it up the exact same way - hardly required any thinking at all. Then anuther'n, and anuther'n, and anuther'n . . . When I got to around 60 IBU's I stopped. And that's the "science" behind that hop schedule.

I have a pale ale in the fermenter now that I brewed with 4 ounces of Cascade pellets and yesterday I dry hopped it with an ounce of whole leaf Cascade. I don't know, maybe that one is closer to an IPA and this next one is actually closer to an APA???

I still bottle everything because I haven't gotten around to buying all the stuff I need to start kegging yet. Since I never label my bottles I don't figure it matters much if I call it an IPA, and APA, or whatever. All the beer drinkers I know drink Bud Light pretty much exclusively, and consider Bud Light to be the standard by which all other beer should be measured - so I stopped wasting my good home brew on them. If they want to drink beer when they're here they can bring their own Bud Light with them.

 

[oylerck]

I used 8 oz of 20l in mine, but 2 lbs of Munich.... and then 11 oz of simcoe between dry hop and late addition/stand.

I can't taste the Munich because the hops are overloaded. It's almost what one would consider a NEIPA but I used us05. Still not clear because of hop amounts.

I don't recommend simcoe by itself and your blend of hops look very nice but I've never tried it

 

[Weezy]

If your water is that rough, you might consider using some bottled drinking or distilled water to cut it.

Crystal malt, in general, is frowned upon in west coast ipas. 120L stuff is way out of the norm.

No point to all those 60 minute hops. Pick one and shoot for 25-30 ibus there. Id use columbus

Youre only using 1.25 oz of hops at flameout and dry hop. Thats pretty low. Id bump up the amarillo at least to a full ounce. Ill use 2 ounces in a 3 gallon batch..

 

[Gytaryst]

If your water is that rough, you might consider using some bottled drinking or distilled water to cut it.

I'm starting with 100% RO water. I'm just obviously doing something wrong with the new version of Bru N' Water. It's not a water issue - it's a trying to figure out the software issue. I'll get it eventually.

... Crystal malt, in general, is frowned upon in west coast ipas. 120L stuff is way out of the norm.

So I've learned, (which is exactly why I posted it here - to get feedback). I don't think I've ever brewed an IPA and I haven't really drank many the past few years. I like them okay - I just got bored with "IPA ONLY" hype.

... No point to all those 60 minute hops. Pick one and shoot for 25-30 ibus there. Id use columbus

I wasn't adding a bunch of different varieties at 60 minutes for any reason or because I thought there might be "a point" to it. I chose a bunch of hop varieties I wanted to use. Since they come in 1 oz packages I decided to split them all into four 1/4 ounce increments - just to give myself four times the options with the later additions. Doing it that way, it just worked out easier to combine the 1/4 ounce increments for the 60 minute bittering addition as well. So you're absolutely right, there's "no point" to adding a bunch of different varieties at 60 minutes. There's also no reason not to if that's how the math works out.

... Youre only using 1.25 oz of hops at flameout and dry hop. Thats pretty low. Id bump up the amarillo at least to a full ounce. Ill use 2 ounces in a 3 gallon batch..

... Live and learn. I added some more hops. I don't know if it's still hoppy enough to qualify as a west coast IPA, the OG is estimated at 1.061 and the IBUs are estimated at 68.5. That's probably not as "unbalanced" as a lot of west coast IPAs, but I'm not looking for a face puckering hop bomb.

If anything maybe I need to change the label to just IPA and leave the west coast off. I don't know.

 

[eric19312]

You are doing something wrong with Bru'n water. No way that grain bill takes RO water to 4.4 mash pH. I have very soft water...pretty similar to RO actually. IMO you should not need both baking soda/chalk (pulls pH up) and gypsum/cacl2 (pulls pH down) in same recipe.


Edited to add I've never built water from RO you should ask somebody who does this. I played around with your recipe in Bru'n water and came up with pH 5.1 without the bicarb or chalk. Then I tried brewersfriend calculator and came up with 5.25 if you add all the salts (Gypsum, CaCl2 and Epsom) to the mash tun or 5.4 if you divide the salts between mash and sparge water.

I'd suggest you skip the bicarb and chalk and add half the salts to the mash and the other half into the boil kettle. 5.4 is pretty spot on for an IPA.

 

[Gytaryst]

Thanks. I'm not sure if I'll ever grasp the water chemistry part of this. I think I have a decent understanding of it for one brew - then when I start planning the next brew I learn something new that completely changes everything I thought I knew.

 

[lstewart89]

I wasn't adding a bunch of different varieties at 60 minutes for any reason or because I thought there might be "a point" to it. I chose a bunch of hop varieties I wanted to use. Since they come in 1 oz packages I decided to split them all into four 1/4 ounce increments - just to give myself four times the options with the later additions. Doing it that way, it just worked out easier to combine the 1/4 ounce increments for the 60 minute bittering addition as well. So you're absolutely right, there's "no point" to adding a bunch of different varieties at 60 minutes. There's also no reason not to if that's how the math works out.

... Live and learn. I added some more hops. I don't know if it's still hoppy enough to qualify as a west coast IPA, the OG is estimated at 1.061 and the IBUs are estimated at 68.5. That's probably not as "unbalanced" as a lot of west coast IPAs, but I'm not looking for a face puckering hop bomb.

If anything maybe I need to change the label to just IPA and leave the west coast off. I don't know.

I'd say you'll be better off if you use only one of your 4 varieties for bittering and get to your desired initial IBUs (I'd chose Columbus), and whatever amount of the other hops you have that you were going to use for 60 minutes throw it in at either 0 minutes or dry hop (or both). You'll make a much better beer this way; you won't be able to distinguish between Amarillo and Columbus at a 60 minute bittering addition, but they'll each shine and compliment each other well when added near the end of the boil.

Don't worry about your beer being too balanced to be considered a West Coast IPA. In fact, I bet this will be better; balanced IPAs are much nicer than hop-water, in my opinion. Approximately 10 IBU's per percentage ABV like you have here is what I aim for in all my ISA/IPA/Pale Ales; it usually comes out real nice.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

This is my RO water additions for my last 5.5 gallon batch of IPA with a similar grain bill. The ph was 5.29.

Strike Water additions:
1.44 gr Gypsum,
1.73 gr Calcium Chloride,
1.73 gr salt
Sparge Additions:
.75 gr Gypsum
.9 gr Calcium chloride
.9 gr Salt

 

[Gytaryst]

I was obsessed with Belgian ales so for the last 2 years that's all I've brewed; 750ml bottles, cork & cage, the whole "Belgian" experience. Now that I have effectively burned myself out on brewing (and drinking) Belgian ales, I decided to brew some lighter stuff for a change.

It's almost like going back to square one and starting over. I have to actually start thinking again Before, getting crazy with hops meant two hop additions instead of one. Everyone else seems to have been obsessed with IPAs so most home brewers and craft beer drinkers I talk to are way ahead of me there. I know IPAs are supposed to be "hoppy" . . . That's pretty much the extent of my IPA knowledge.

I'd say you'll be better off if you use only one of your 4 varieties for bittering and get to your desired initial IBUs (I'd chose Columbus)...
you won't be able to distinguish between Amarillo and Columbus at a 60 minute bittering addition...

At the risk of beating a dead horse - I get it. I know the 60 minute addition is for bittering only. I know that. I got it. Brewing 101, first day of class. "You won't be able to distinguish between Amarillo and Columbus at a 60 minute bittering addition."

So everyone is pointing out that "What kind of hops you add at 60 minutes doesn't matter" and I agree. Then you say, "so you should just add one kind." In other words, it doesn't matter what kind of hops you use at 60 minutes as long as it's all the same variety . . . which translated means it does actually matter what kind of hops you use for the 60 minute addition.

I buy 4 oz of hops for $2.00 an ounce; 1 oz of W, 1 oz of X, 1 oz of Y and 1 oz of Z. Four varieties for $8.00. I split them all up into 1/4 oz portions, and then I take 1/4 oz of each variety to add at 60 minutes for bittering. I won't be able to distinguish between them and it doesn't matter, but I do that anyway. That leaves me with 3 oz of all four varieties to use for later additions, (where it does matter). $8.00 for a true 4 hop beer.

OR

I add the entire 1 oz of W in at 60 minutes for bittering, (because it's just for bittering and you won't taste or smell it anyway). I still have 3 oz to add later, but only three varieties rather than four. $8.00 for a 3 hop beer that I bought 4 hops for.

Anyway, that was my only point there. I get that the 60 minute addition is just for bittering. No worries.

This is my RO water additions for my last 5.5 gallon batch of IPA with a similar grain bill. The ph was 5.29.

Strike Water additions:
1.44 gr Gypsum,
1.73 gr Calcium Chloride,
1.73 gr salt
Sparge Additions:
.75 gr Gypsum
.9 gr Calcium chloride
.9 gr Salt

After playing around with the Bru N' Water spreadsheet I think I got the water profile I'm going with, (I probably shouldn't have said that )

My final numbers for the mash are:
Ca - 117
Mg - 0
Na - 8
SO2 - 222
Cl - 46
HCO3 - 16
with a pH of 5.4, and the only additions are gypsum and calcium chloride.

It's looking good on paper - time will tell how it turns out in the glass. I predict it will either be good or it won't.

Cheers guys

 

[oylerck]

I was obsessed with Belgian ales so for the last 2 years that's all I've brewed; 750ml bottles, cork & cage, the whole "Belgian" experience. Now that I have effectively burned myself out on brewing (and drinking) Belgian ales, I decided to brew some lighter stuff for a change.

It's almost like going back to square one and starting over. I have to actually start thinking again Before, getting crazy with hops meant two hop additions instead of one. Everyone else seems to have been obsessed with IPAs so most home brewers and craft beer drinkers I talk to are way ahead of me there. I know IPAs are supposed to be "hoppy" . . . That's pretty much the extent of my IPA knowledge.



At the risk of beating a dead horse - I get it. I know the 60 minute addition is for bittering only. I know that. I got it. Brewing 101, first day of class. "You won't be able to distinguish between Amarillo and Columbus at a 60 minute bittering addition."

So everyone is pointing out that "What kind of hops you add at 60 minutes doesn't matter" and I agree. Then you say, "so you should just add one kind." In other words, it doesn't matter what kind of hops you use at 60 minutes as long as it's all the same variety . . . which translated means it does actually matter what kind of hops you use for the 60 minute addition.

I buy 4 oz of hops for $2.00 an ounce; 1 oz of W, 1 oz of X, 1 oz of Y and 1 oz of Z. Four varieties for $8.00. I split them all up into 1/4 oz portions, and then I take 1/4 oz of each variety to add at 60 minutes for bittering. I won't be able to distinguish between them and it doesn't matter, but I do that anyway. That leaves me with 3 oz of all four varieties to use for later additions, (where it does matter). $8.00 for a true 4 hop beer.

OR

I add the entire 1 oz of W in at 60 minutes for bittering, (because it's just for bittering and you won't taste or smell it anyway). I still have 3 oz to add later, but only three varieties rather than four. $8.00 for a 3 hop beer that I bought 4 hops for.

Anyway, that was my only point there. I get that the 60 minute addition is just for bittering. No worries.


After playing around with the Bru N' Water spreadsheet I think I got the water profile I'm going with, (I probably shouldn't have said that )

My final numbers for the mash are:
Ca - 117
Mg - 0
Na - 8
SO2 - 222
Cl - 46
HCO3 - 16
with a pH of 5.4, and the only additions are gypsum and calcium chloride.

It's looking good on paper - time will tell how it turns out in the glass. I predict it will either be good or it won't.

Cheers guys

I think you've got a point about the bittering addition, but I believe most are just question why the extra work. If it suits you, do it. You'll have more of each hop left in the end and that's fine.

Brew on, this is why we brew our own - to do whatever the hell we want to do. No corporate bullies or P&L bottom line to worry about.

 

[Gytaryst]

I think you've got a point about the bittering addition, but I believe most are just question why the extra work.

Yeah, not a big deal. I don't have a problem with constructive criticism or positive feedback. I responded only because the comments were prefaced with "There's no point in doing it that way..." It's fine that it doesn't fit into their broad view of how things need to be done - but that doesn't necessarily mean there's "no point" in my doing it that way.

But it's all good. When you get right down to it there's "no point" in doing a mash - you can buy extract in a can. If "the point" is to streamline the process and cut out the labor intensive tasks like measuring hops on a kitchen scale, then let's follow that logic. For that matter, there's really "no point" in brewing at all. You can buy this stuff ready-to-drink all over the place. Can't get much easier than that?

Sarcasm is my superpower

Cheers

 

[day_trippr]

I suspect the questioning over the selection of hops for bittering is based on the tradition of reserving the premium "fancy" strains for the more demanding character roles and using strains with lots of AA but maybe not great character for bittering.

Towards that end I'd agree with using the Columbus for bittering and save the rest for late additions, but it's Brewer's Call no matter what

Cheers!

 

[bigplunkett]

Looks good to me but the Crystal 120 scares me. I stoped using them all together in my ipas if u want it tho 60L or less would be wise. Im not to good with water profile so sorry no imput there i use ro water.